Our Teachers
Mary Angela Buffo is the owner/director of Ananda Yoga & Wellness Center in Southampton N.Y. She thoroughly enjoys both teaching classes to groups and working privately with individuals. She offers workshops based on the Law of Attraction, Chakra balancing and more, as well as and retreats around the world.
Mary has studied with many teachers (Angela Farmer, Todd Norian, John Friend, Eric Schiffman)and continues to learn every day. She is a Certified Hatha Yoga teacher through Todd Norian, Kripalu yoga teacher, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist and an ordained minister.
For 12 years Mary worked as a mental health counselor for those dealing with addition issues. She currently offers Spiritual Counseling that incoorporates the principles of the Law of Attraction and the mind/body healing componenets of yoga.
Her classes are physical with a challenging vinyasa flow while staying conscious of the emotional and mental experiences. She has a loving approach to her teachings, creating a safe environment for all students. Her intention is to bring people back to their bodies so that they can empower their lives. Mary Angela has been studying and practicing yoga and meditation for over 15 years.
Contact Mary directly for private sessions in Yoga or Spiritual Counseling at (516) 702-2921.
Ann Harmon began practicing Yoga in 1989. Her love of Yoga has grown since then. What began as strictly a physical practice, gradually became a spiritual practice. She was certified as a Yoga teacher by Yoga Shanti in a 500-hour program. She has also taken workshops with Beryl Bender Birch, James Murphy and Mary Dunn, two esteemed Iyengar Yoga teachers, Anna Forest, Mark Whitwell, Angela Farmer and Victor Van Kooten and Rodney Yee. Ann is inspired by these teachers and many others who have crossed her path over the years. She remains open to all kinds of teachings and takes what she feels into her teaching.
Ann has had experience teaching beginners, seniors, as well as more advanced students. Her class is about teaching her students to be present in their bodies and then learning to take the physical practice off the mat and out into the world as they live their lives. Ann tailors her class to be invigorating as well as relaxing. She finds the most inspiration from her students .
Marcia Tumpowsky has been involved in the 'Healing Arts' for ever 30 years. She is a Certified (500 hour) Professional Kripalu Yoga Teacher. She is certified in Restorative Yoga and Pregnancy Yoga. She is a NYS Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Healing Touch Practitioner, a Polarity Practitioner and has recently been certified in Positional Release Therapy. YOGA ON THE BEACH in Sag Harbor N.Y. was started in the summer of 2000. She has been teaching meditation since 1988, privately and in group settings. She combines all of her teachings in her classes and her bodywork.
Leslie Pearlman’s relationship with yoga began over 25 years ago when she stumbled upon her mother doing yoga in her nightgown on her bedroom floor. Leslie was hooked immediately. She used to tag along with her mother to her weekly yoga class and experienced her first yoga retreat at age 12. Leslie continued to practice yoga and in February 2000 decided to teach and study yoga full-time. Leslie completed her first Teacher Training in 2000 (Sivananda). In 2002 Leslie had the great fortune of meeting Ana Forrest, who has become her most influential teacher. Leslie has completed both the Forrest Yoga Teacher Training and Advanced Forrest Yoga Training and is honored to be a Senior Assistant to Ana Forrest. Leslie also has over 15 years experience as a fitness and movement instructor.
Prior to teaching yoga full-time, Leslie was an attorney at Brooklyn Legal Services where she provided legal assistance to domestic violence survivors. It was through this work that Leslie saw first hand the power of healing the spirit. After studying Forrest Yoga Leslie was able to take the knowledge of her many worlds and to help people apply that to fulfilling their lives. Leslie encourages her students to go deeper and to go explore the myriad benefits of yoga.
Kara Billingham
Kara teaches Kripalu style yoga at Ananda and in her home studio in Hampton Bays. Her yoga journey began in 2001 to alleviate sciatica pain while pregnant. A friend introduced her to her first class at the Ananda Yoga & Wellness Center in 2002. Mary Angela Buffo was Kara’s first teacher at Ananda and has been one of the most influential people in Kara’s yogic life. Her personal yoga practice grew and in 2005 she decided to train to become a yoga teacher. By the end of 2006 she received her 200 hour YTT from Kripalu center for yoga & health, where she studied with Steven Hartman (Devarshi) and Nancy Buttenheim (Megha). This experience transformed her yoga into a much more spiritual practice.
Kara’s passion for yoga goes hand in hand with her love for working with individuals with special needs. She was previously the Director of the Southampton Fresh Air Home, a local camp for physically challenged children, and continues to volunteer her time teaching yoga to the staff and campers there each summer.
She feels the most influential people along her path have been the students who attend her classes. Kara is particularly proud of the sense of community her classes bring, inspiring all to honor themselves and those around them….not only on the yoga mat, but in life. Her passion is to bring yoga to as many people as she can and to spread a message that we are all in some way connected! Find out more about Kara’s classes at www.KaraYoga.com
Abby Vakay RYT
Registered Yoga Alliance, and Certified Vinyasa, Tranquil Space in Washington, DC, followed with Shiva Rea, Fluid Power, at Kripalu, with ongoing study rooted in Krishnamacharya lineage,and her creative personal practice. Abby has been living and breathing yoga since age 6, lining up her mates to perform headstands and splits and giving them reportcards, yikes. These days, Abby guides students to breath and move in Fusion Flow Yoga.
What is Fusion Flow?
Fusion Flow is a merging of many rivers of inspiration, ongoing, always changing, where form follows function, cyclical as in nature, circular like malas, a real fluid freedom flow!
This yoga is for all. We begin as we are, where we are, however we are, as perfection, already realized and living our yoga in all ways.
www.AbbyVakay.com
Isabelle Cote-Cohen began practicing yoga as a way to divert the stress of operating her restaurant. Her love of yoga blossomed to a point where she decided to pursue certification so she could share the greatness that yoga brings to the body, mind and spirit.
Isabelle became a certified Kripalu teacher in 2001 and has since earned her 500-hour Professional Level certification. She also earned additional yoga teacher training certificates in Prenatal and Pregnancy, Children's Yoga as well as Thai Yoga Bodywork.
Isabelle’s classes integrate influences from many different yoga traditions. She especially takes great inspiration from her background as a dancer as well as her vinyasa studies with Shiva Rea. With all of her training Isabelle has captured the true essence of yoga and brings power, exuberance, caring and love to her classes.
Jennifer Nicolau is a certified childrens yoga teacher, and became one to share her love of yoga with the little ones.
Michele Sacconaghi
Michele’s yoga practice has spanned nearly 25 years, carrying her through Peace Corps service, a corporate career, and two pregnancies. She feels that her personal yoga practice has given her perspective and balance that has helped her stay physically and spiritually aware even through difficult times. Michele initially decided to become a certified Vinyasa teacher to deepen her own practice but left the training feeling compelled to share her passion with others. Michele’s classes typically combine a challenging sequence of flowing postures that emphasize breathing and mind/body awareness. She is inspired by the many teachers who have helped to strengthen her practice but even more from the students she feels privileged to teach. Michele hopes that her students will awaken their bodies, minds and spirits on the mat and be able to harness this positive energy to find balance in their day-to-day lives.
Phone: 631-204-1219 Email: